“Has my hand opened to me”
Ski jumping star plays with a cat-and is attacked
24.02.2025 – 9:01 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Shortly before the World Cup, Stefan Kraft experienced two health setbacks. In one case, the neighbor’s cat was also to blame.
Ski jumping star Stefan Kraft reported his eventful last week a few days before the start of the Nordic Ski World Cup. “It was very exciting and I was distracted a lot. Now calm can stop again,” said the Austrian on Monday at an online media appointment of the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV).
What happened? At first, a lumbago had been causing strength. In Japanese Sapparo, he won his 39th World Cup victory a week ago. After the journey home, he could not move for two to three days, said Kraft. In the meantime, however, the lumbago has been cured. “The two units are very positive,” said Kraft about two training sessions at the Bergisel at the end of last week. “Now I’m fine again, the neck fits that far.”
The next little setback on Saturday was just again fitting – and it was quite bizarre. “We let the neighboring cat in for breakfast and I played nicely with her and stroked her. She really enjoyed it until she suddenly no longer interested her,” said Kraft.
That was the doom of the 31-year-old. “Then she ripped my hand,” he said. The result: strength immediately got a vaccination against diphtheria and tetanus. In order not to promote inflammation, antibotics were also prescribed.
In retrospect, the incidents could take humor. “As Michi (Ski-Pring colleague Hayböck, note of the red) often says: I always need something anyway so that I jump well.”
The Nordic Ski World Cup starts on February 26th in Trondheim in Norweg. However, the male ski jumpers are only in action on March 2. The tournament ends on March 9 with the 50-kilometer mass start of women in the ski cross-country skiing.